Geographies of opportunity: Psychiatric housing and social interaction

One of the goals of community-based psychiatric housing is to promote social integration for individuals with severe mental illness. Yet little empirical evidence exists regarding the degree to which psychiatric residents participate in community life and interact with neighbors. There is also scant information regarding the ways in which neighborhood characteristics promote or inhibit social interaction. This paper reports the findings of a study that collected information from supervisors at psychiatric residences regarding the nature of residents' community interactions, and examined associations between these interactions and neighborhood demographics. The paper is framed conceptually with literature on “geography of opportunity,” which explores the effects of place – including neighborhoods – on life prospects. This study represents one component of a multi-phased project that examined siting strategies for supervised group homes and apartments for individuals with severe mental illness. The sampling frame consisted of lists from State Departments of Mental Health in seven states representing all organizations that provided housing for persons with mental illness. From these lists, 169 housing administrators were interviewed regarding the siting strategies for their most recently established psychiatric residence. These administrators provided the names of on-site supervisors at these residences, and 137 were interviewed regarding the nature of residents' interactions in the local community. Neighborhood demographics were collected from the U.S. Census. Among the findings were that social interaction was positively associated with dense, mixed use, walkable neighborhoods. The results suggest to mental health practitioners that locational choice may have implications for goals of social integration.